Ark Supreme Court: No wrongdoing by Conway Corp. lawyers

Posted: July 31, 2014 - 4:47pm

The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled that Conway Corp’s attorney did not violate a stay ordered by the Court in proceedings related to an eminent domain lawsuit against the city-owned utility provider.

Gary Jiles and his associate attorney Matthew Brown, who are representing Conway Corp, were alleged by the plaintiff’s attorney, Kent Walker of Little Rock, to have sought to garnish the plaintiffs’ wages after the state Supreme Court expressly put a hold on any garnishment.

A specially appointed judge, the retired Judge John Plegge, was called in to be a preliminary finder-of-fact. In June, Plegge released his findings that “[a]t no time has Jiles, Brown or any other employee of Millar Jiles LLP either sought or obtained any Order to Pay with regard to the Garnishment.” Rather, the findings of fact show, Walmart and/or its payroll company, ADP, kept up wage garnishment sua sponte, or on their own, after they had been notified of the stay, and that any contempt of the Court’s order would fall on them, not Jiles and his office.

The state Supreme Court agreed with Plegge’s conclusion on Thursday, and the order that Jiles and Brown show cause as to why they are not in contempt was dismissed.